Social media

Social media is where you both find new customers and keep in touch with those who have already chosen you. It is also the part of marketing that most easily eats your time. So we don't start with "what should I post?" but with two calmer questions: what should social media do for you – and where are your customers?

Social media has two jobs

The platforms – where are your customers?

• Facebook – adults and older users. Local groups, events, buy & sell – still strong locally.
• Instagram – the broadest for food: photos, reels and stories in one channel. Often the obvious first choice.
• TikTok – younger audience. The biggest reach for short videos – even without followers.
• YouTube – all ages. People search "how do you …" – content that lives long.
• Snapchat – young audience, mostly private messages. Rarely the right channel for a producer.
• Pinterest – recipes, inspiration and planning. Strong internationally – used by visitors planning trips.
• LinkedIn – business customers (B2B): restaurateurs, buyers, collaborations and press.

And overseas visitors? They use the same platforms – but find you through location tags on Instagram, through Pinterest and YouTube, and through reviews on Google. If the visitor is one of your segments: write a couple of lines in English in your profile and tag the location on what you post. WeChat and Telegram on the map are examples of platforms that are big abroad – they only become relevant if an overseas audience is one of your key segments.

How the feed works – on every platform

The platforms live on people staying. And here it pays to be clear-eyed: you are not competing with the farm next door for attention – you are competing with everything. News, celebrities, your followers' holiday photos, cat videos. The feed sorts up whatever keeps people on the platform – so your post has to stand out and generate engagement. Three things worth knowing:

• Engagement drives reach. The more people pause, like, comment and share – the more people see your next post.
• Outbound links are down-prioritised. The platform doesn't want people to leave. Put the value in the post itself – put the link in your profile or a comment.
• Ads are an auction. You can buy reach, but for a small producer the big win comes from genuine content – not paid.

What does "standing out" look like in practice? A few examples:

• Fifteen seconds of the cheese being turned in the brine – hands, steam, sound.
• The pig that escaped and was found in the strawberry patch – told exactly as it happened.
• Before and after: the same field in April and in August.
• "It's 04:32 and the first loaves are in the oven" – a story from the early shift.

What they have in common: real moments, movement, something people recognise or are surprised by. A product catalogue does none of that.

Choose your channel using your segments

Bring out the segment cards from step 1. Question 3 on each card – where do they find you, and where do they want to buy? – already holds half the answer. Then three simple rules apply:

1. One main channel. Where your most important segment is – and one you can manage every week.
2. At most one secondary. For example the Facebook group for the locals and Instagram for the visitors.
3. Dare to opt out. A neglected channel makes a worse impression than none at all.

The test: can you keep your intended rhythm in the main channel for three months without it feeling like punishment? If not – choose fewer channels or a simpler rhythm.